This blog attempts to cause people to begin thinking more deeply about the philosophy and ethics of food.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Creation or Evolution?

Today I would like to expand just a bit on my thoughts surrounding creation versus evolution. Keep in mind I am a hog farmer by trade and not at all well versed in the great debate of this topic. I simply see the choice as this: I can believe that I exist for a reason with a purpose as part of an organized plan (creation), or I can believe that I just got excruciatingly lucky and through some cosmic good humour here I am (evolution and the "big bang").

I have stated in other blogs that I choose "Creation". The reason really isn't very complicated. There is a big piece of me, my internal self, that wants to have a purpose in life. I think it is patently depressing to think I exist for no reason what so ever. Why excercise any discretion or self discipline at all if I am here just as random chance? I just can't accept in my heart of hearts that life is that pointless.

This choice has some profound impacts on how I live my life. If what we are, and what we see around us, is all the result of the same cosmic event "the big bang" and the resulting evolutionary process, then the concept of "rights" would not exist. The only "rights" would belong to the most powerful. That thing that could wipe out everything/something else. We/everthing would have been created equal, finding our roots in the same cosmic event (the big bang) but somethings would have asserted themselves above others by their ability to wipe them out (evolution). Under this view it would appear to me that as a human at the top of the evolutionary chain I can do what I want to whatever I want, the only constraint being my self interest of not doing something that would wipe me out in the mean time (ie, nuclear war or global warming).

In terms of how I would care for animals the implication becomes somewhat clear. I could treat animals in anyway I wanted to get the response from them I desired for my own self interest. That is exactly what I am accused of by my critics. On the extreme end of these critics are those who would argue that animals should have rights equal to humans. In Switzerland animals have public defenders in the court system as a result of this idea. Do you see the connection back to worldview? If everything came from the same cosmic event everything should be equal in terms of rights. If things aren't equal then it is because someone has asserted their superior position in the evolutionary chain of events and pushed someone/thing else down.

I choose to believe that I am created by the same God that created all this "stuff" around us and that in that process humans were given a special place in Creation. I don't see where believing that everything was created is any bigger step of faith than believing that it all came about by a cosmic event. The only way the cosmic event idea is even worth considering is if you have some small idea that given enough time and enough events anything is possible. You will note these are the main ingredients of the big bang theory and evolution, huge amounts of stuff/events, spread across unfathomable amounts of time. It all becomes too much to comprehend and then accept as an "accident". I choose the creation account. It is much easier to get your arms around.

As a result I see myself as a steward of God's creation. I have a responsibility to care for the world in a way that brings glory to Him. It is through fulfilling this responsibility that I find a purpose for my existence and life becomes meaningful. This purpose and meaning then drive me to self discipline and to act against some of my more destructive inclinations. I will discuss these in a latter post.

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About Me

I raise pigs, corn and soybeans in S. Western Ohio. I have four children that represent the seventh generation on this farm. My hope is to communicate something of our life and thought to the reader and to foster discussion and thought.